Ina Garten Will Never Cook With This Ingredient—Here’s Why (2024)

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Ina Garten Will Never Cook With This Ingredient—Here’s Why? ›

In an interview for the newest episode of the Munchies' podcast, Garten revealed that she never cooks with cilantro, and admitted she can't stomach the notoriously polarizing herb. "Hate it!" she tells Munchies. "I know people love it, and you can add it to the recipe.

When it comes to two cooking legends, Ina Garten and Julia Child, their minds agree on a strong distaste for one ingredient: cilantro. It seems that both chefs have a particularly strong distaste for the herb, also known as coriander.

“I had no interest in having children. I had a terrible childhood, and it was nothing I wanted to recreate,” the Food Network star explained. “I think now looking back, I see my friends with their children and I understand what it could be. But when I was 20, I didn't want to have anything to do with it.”

Ina Garten's quote, "Food should be celebrated, not feared," encapsulates the essence of her philosophy towards cooking and consumption. Through her numerous cookbooks and television shows, Garten has consistently advocated for a positive and joyful approach to food.

During Vice's Munchies podcast (via Cooking Light), Garten revealed she hates cilantro because, to her, it takes like soap and has a strong overpowering flavor. Cilantro tasting like soap might sound crazy, but Garten is not alone in her feelings.

Heckers Unbleached All Purpose Flour

Garten swears by Heckers all purpose, unbleached flour.

Barefoot Contessa closed permanently in 2004, but Ms. Garten still owns the building. The move was announced during a live taping of “The Drew Barrymore Show,” which aired yesterday on CBS.

Currently, Jeffrey serves as the Dean Emeritus at the Yale School of Management and teaches courses on the global economy. According to his faculty page, prior to joining Yale, he worked for multiple White House administrations, served in the U.S. Army Special Forces and was a managing director on Wall Street.

According to Celebrity Net Worth, Ina Garten's net worth in 2024 is estimated at $60 million. When combined with that of her husband Jeffrey, that amount is estimated at a whopping $120 million.

Biography and Personal Life

She was born and raised in New York, and she attended Syracuse University for college. Garten is of Jewish descent and is currently 75 years old. She has a height of 160 cm (5'2″) and weighs approximately 70 kg (154 lbs).

What is Ina Garten's favorite dinner? ›

The one meal Ina simply couldn't live without is roast chicken. She even cites it as one of the reasons her husband, Jeffrey, proposed marriage in 1968.

Without a formal culinary education, she says, "Julia Child was my cooking school."

Like her predecessor Julia Child, Ina started out as a civil servant. She analyzed nuclear policy for the Ford and Carter administrations.

The divisive herb cilantro

During an interview on Vice's "Munchies: The Podcast", Garten revealed that cilantro is actually one of her most hated foods. While she hates the flavor of cilantro, she also feels it steals too much of the spotlight. "I know people love it and you can add it to the recipe. I just hate it.

Fish head stew is a no. As for herbs, she absolutely despises cilantro, and you won't find much of it used in her recipes. Beverages that she's not okay with are pumpkin spice lattes, because they don't taste enough like coffee, and kombucha, because she's not a huge fan of fermented fare.

Julia Child famously validated a hatred for cilantro in a 2002 interview with Larry King when she admitted she detested cilantro, saying it has a “dead taste” to her. Others say it leaves a soap-like aftertaste in their mouths, and some have even likened the taste to crushed bugs.

Born Ina Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City and grew up in Stamford, Connecticut, Garten was one of two children born to Charles H. Rosenberg, a surgeon specializing in otolaryngology, and his wife, Florence (née Rich), a dietitian.

Garten explains that flour is sifted because it ensures even measurement. It's easy for flour to become compacted, causing a discrepancy from one measuring cup to the next. The "Barefoot Contessa" says to sift the flour before you measure, spoon it into the measuring cup, and level with a knife or your hand.

Garten likes to avoid messy clean-up

They can all just go into the washing machine. At night I get dressed up — I don't wear a denim shirt at night — but when I'm working, I always wear like a brown corduroy shirt or a blue denim shirt." You can likely imagine how immaculate her closet of work clothes must look.

Garten is Jewish by birth and heritage, as is her husband, but rarely refers to her religion and ethnicity, though they are showcased through the inclusion of classic Jewish cooking in her television show and cookbooks, when she makes such dishes as rugelach, challah, and brisket.